Continuous casting mold

ABSTRACT

A continuous casting mold which has upper and lower portions made up of sidewalls, the sidewalls of the upper portion being fixed and defining a predetermined ingot path cross section, while the sidewalls of the lower portion are mutually movable. Fixing members, made up of rotary eccentric cams, connecting the vertically adjacent upper and lower sidewalls, and biasing means acting on the lower portion sidewalls to bias them radially inwardly to conform to the ingot shrinkage. Furthermore, second biasing means acting substantially in the direction of the ingot axis are provided on the sidewalls of both upper and lower portions to preclude a gap from occurring at the junction of the vertically adjacent upper and lower portions.

United States Patent [72] Inventors [54] CONTINUOUS CASTING MOLD 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 164/280 [51] Int. Cl 822d 11/06 [50] Field of Search 164/273,

273 (M), 274, 275, 280, 292, 339, 341, 391, 392, 393, 395, 396; 249/1 18, 126, 195; 25/1 18 (M), 118 (T) [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,226,782 1/1966 Schultz l64/273(UX) 3,439,736 4/1969 Strohschein et a1. 164/28OX Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-John S. Brown Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz and Nissen ABSTRACT: A continuous casting mold which has upper and lower portions made up of sidewalls, the sidewalls of the upper portion being fixed and defining a predetermined ingot path cross section, while the sidewalls of the lower portion are mutually movable. Fixing members, made up of rotary eccentric cams, connecting the vertically adjacent upper and lower sidewalls, and biasing means acting on the lower portion sidewalls to bias them radially inwardly to conform to the ingot shrinkage. Furthermore, second biasing means acting substantially in the direction of the ingot axis are provided on the sidewalls of both upper and lower portions to preclude a gap from occurring at the junction of the vertically adjacent upper and lower portions.

PATENTED HAY25 I97| CONTINUOUS CASTING MOLD This invention relates to machines for continuous casting metal and more particularly to the molds of these machines.

The proposed invention can be effectively used in machines with vertical or curved molds.

Vertical molds are known which consist of two portions, the walls of the lower portion are bolted to those of the upper portion and spring loaded to bias inwardly so as to bear upon the ingot.

It is well known that during solidification the ingot shrinks, consequently a gap may develop between the working surfaces of the walls of the upper and lower portions of the mold and the ingot skin, which can lead to a breaking of the skin by the molten metal.

The present day molds do not eliminate this gap formation and do not ensure close contact between the ingot and the walls of the lower portion of the mold along its entire length. Thus the amount of heat removal, and consequently the solidification of the ingot, is less than optimum.

An object of the invention is to provide a mold which ensures a close contact between the ingot and the walls of the lower portion. An important object of the invention is to pro-- vide a mold which eliminates mutual displacement of the working surfaces of the walls of the upper and lower portions such that the vertically adjacent walls do not share the same plane.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mold which improves the quality of the ingot. These and other objects are attained by providing a mold of a continuous metal casting machine wherein, according to the invention, at least two opposite walls of its lower part are movable with respect to the corresponding walls of its upper part. The movement of the walls of the lower part of the mold is such that the opposite walls of the lower part of the mold can be disposed at an inclination corresponding to the shrinkage of the ingot being cast.

The design of the connection of the lower walls to those of the upper part should ensure planar coincidence of the working surfaces of the walls of the lower and upper parts of the mold at their joint. In addition, it must be ensured that the joint does not open during operation.

The best solution is achieved by designing the connection of the lower walls of the mold to the upper walls in the form of fixing members, for example, rotary eccentric cams, while spring members, for example, helical springs, prevent opening of the joint.

An embodiment of the invention will now be explained in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a vertical section of the mold of the continuous casting machine;

FIG. 2 is a section through the line 11-" in FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a section through the line [IL-III in FIG. I.

The proposed vertical mold of the continuous casting machine consists of two portions: an upper portion 1 and a lower portion 2. The walls 3 of the upper portion form an internal cavity A of a constant cross section whereas the walls 4 of the lower portion 2 form an internal cavity B of a variable cross section, and the lower walls are resiliently pressed against the ingot 6 by springs 5. The upper and lower mold walls are liquid cooled.

The walls 4 of the lower portion are adapted to turn about the corresponding walls 3 of the upper portion and connected to them fixing members 7 are spring members 8. Such a connection provides the coincidence of the working surface 9 of the wall 3 of the upper portion 1 with the working surface 10 of the wall 4 of the lower portion 2, and further permits the walls to move toward each other.

The fixing members are made in the form of rotary eccentric cams 7 (FIG. 2) having an eccentricity e, for adjusting the mutual position of the working surfaces 9 and 10 of the walls 3 and 4 respectively. The necks 12 of the cams 7 are arranged in the openings of the walls 4 and the necks 11 and 13 of cams 7 enter the lu s14 ofthe walls 3.

The mol operates as follows.

During formation of the skin of ingot 6 in the mold upper portion 1 the ingot fits closely against the walls 3. The ingot 6 as it is withdrawn from the mold, contracts due to shrinkage and pulls away from the walls. In this case the walls 4 of the lower mold portion are moved about the walls 3 of the upper mold portion to fit against the contracted ingot 6. The fixing members 7 preclude the possibility of mutual displacement of the working surfaces 9 and 10 of the walls 3 and 4 of the upper and lower mold portions, while the spring members 8 preclude the possibility opening of the joint between the above-mentioned walls.

The proposed mold provides for better cooling of the ingot and helps to considerably increase the molten metal casting rate. Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is understood that this does not delimit the invention, but rather the spirit and scope is limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:

I. A continuous casting mold comprising upper and lower portions made up of the sidewalls wherein the sidewalls of said upper portion are fixed and define a predetermined ingot path cross section while the sidewalls of said lower portion portion are mutually movable; fixing members positioned on at least two opposite sidewalls to movably connect the corresponding opposite sidewalls of said upper and lower portions together; first biasing means acting on those lower portion sidewalls that have fixing members to bias them radially inwardly to conform to ingot shrinkage; and second biasing means acting substantially in the direction of the ingot axis to preclude a gap from occurring at the junction of the upper and lower portion sidewalls.

2. The mold as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said fixing member is a rotary eccentric cam having an eccentric neck arranged in an opening in the lower mold portion and two eccentric necks arranged in lugs on the upper mold portion, said fixing members maintaining the vertically adjacent working surfaces of the upper and lower mold portions in substantial planar coincidence.

3. The mold as claimed in claim I wherein the upper and lower mold portions are each liquid cooled. 

1. A continuous casting mold comprising upper and lower portions made up of the sidewalls wherein the sidewalls of said upper portion are fixed and define a predetermined ingot path cross section while the sidewalls of said lower portion portion are mutually movable; fixing members positioned on at least two opposite sidewalls to movably connect the corresponding opposite sidewalls of said upper and lower portions together; first biasing means acting on those lower portion sidewalls that have fixing members to bias them radially inwardly to conform to ingot shrinkage; and second biasing means acting substantially in the direction of the ingot axis to preclude a gap from occurring at the junction of the upper and lower portion sidewalls.
 2. The mold as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said fixing member is a rotary eccentric cam having an eccentric neck arranged in an opening in the lower mold portion and two eccentric necks arranged in lugs on the upper mold portion, said fixing members maintaining the vertically adjacent working surfaces of the upper and lower mold portions in substantial planar coincidence.
 3. The mold as claimed in claim 1 wherein the upper and lower mold portions are each liquid cooled. 